RADIO
When will Brock Bowers return and play? Will Brock Bowers be back again this season? Read the latest Brock Bowers injury updates and return date for Week 6 (2025).
Undoubtedly, fantasy managers with Brock Bowers were entering Week 5 feeling underwhelmed. Unfortunately, a late-week injury caused the tight end to be inactive, showing everybody that things could always be worse.
Now, fantasy managers are stuck wondering how long it will take for their second-round fantasy pick to be limited or out of their lineup altogether.
When will Bowers return? Can he be used in Week 6? Read below to find out.
Editor's Note: Identify fantasy football draft busts, overvalued ADPs, and key players to avoid so you can draft with confidence this season.
Brock Bowers Injury Update
Bowers suffered a rumored PCL injury and a knee bruise in Week 1. Bowers had been able to play through the injury (albeit in a very limited capacity) until Week 5. Unfortunately, the second-year tight end suffered a setback in practice before the Raiders played the Colts, which ultimately led to him being inactive in Week 5.
This does not look like Brock Bowers pic.twitter.com/izTHqcy9dj
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) September 22, 2025
Head coach Pete Carroll initially deemed Bowers as “week-to-week” after his injury, but followed that up by calling him “day-to-day” during practice. Still, Bowers did not participate in practice for the Raiders on Wednesday (10/8), which makes his availability look like a long shot in Week 6.
Brock Bowers Fantasy Football Outlook
Fantasy managers drafted Bowers to be a tight end they would never have to doubt putting in their starting lineups in 2025. So far, he has failed to live up to those expectations.
Bowers started the season strong, catching five of eight targets for 103 yards on just 50.8% of the team’s snaps due to his injury. Since then, Bowers has maintained a steady target share (6.3 targets per game), but turned it into an average of 4.7 receptions and 40.7 receiving yards per game.
The yards after the catch ability that Bowers showed as a rookie has been sapped by the injury. Making matters worse, the second-year tight end missed Week 5 after aggravating the injury and is likely to miss Week 6 as well. Unfortunately, the Raiders' bye week is in Week 8, so it would make sense if the Raiders opted to shut the veteran tight end down to maximize his ability to heal.
Raiders TE Brock Bowers has been playing through a PCL injury and bone bruise on his knee that has impacted his performance, per sources. Doctors have said the only way to recover from the knee injuries he suffered on opening day vs. the Patriots is to rest, which Bowers has been… pic.twitter.com/UAdyCiyb36
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 5, 2025
If the time off is enough to get Bowers closer to full health, then it is worth it. Bowers is still the TE12 in fantasy points per game (10.9) despite failing to hit double-digit fantasy points in three of four games this season.
Unfortunately, the longer this injury lingers, the less likely it is that Bowers pays off his second round ADP. It isn’t too late, but time is quickly running out.
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 6 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Darren Waller, Kyle Pitts Sr., Zach Ertz, Theo Johnson, Mason Taylor, Jake Tonges. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 6. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 6 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 6 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Darren Waller, Kyle Pitts Sr., Zach Ertz, Theo Johnson, Mason Taylor, Jake Tonges. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 6.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player name. In the second box, search for the second player name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do, is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 6 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 6 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 6 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 6 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Darren Waller, Kyle Pitts Sr., Zach Ertz, Theo Johnson, Mason Taylor, Jake Tonges compared to others:
More Fantasy Football Analysis
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
